online sales

Microsoft has rolled out a partnership with eBay to give consumers instant cash rebates. But the software giant is still reeling from a major outage that left Black Friday shoppers frustrated with its program.

Microsoft announced the cashback concept in May, hoping for an edge in the search-engine wars through ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products using Live Search. The program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com, and includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants.

Microsoft has rolled out a partnership with eBay to give consumers instant cash rebates. But the software giant is still reeling from a major outage that left Black Friday shoppers frustrated with its program.

Microsoft announced the cashback concept in May, hoping for an edge in the search-engine wars through ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products using Live Search. The program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com, and includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants.

The Gap company's stores have hardly been the hottest spots at the mall in recent months -- or even years.

In a market where most retailers are posting single-digit monthly losses, its brands -- Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic -- had a combined double-digit drop in September, and Old Navy's sales that month were down a startlingly bad 24 percent.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced a concept it hopes will give it the edge in the search engine wars: ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products.

Dubbed Microsoft Live Search cashback, the new program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com . The complete Live Search cashback product portfolio includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants, including more than 13 of the top 40 U.S. retailers.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced a concept it hopes will give it the edge in the search engine wars: ad-funded cash rebates for customers who find and purchase products.

Dubbed Microsoft Live Search cashback, the new program partners with brands like eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears and Zappos.com . The complete Live Search cashback product portfolio includes more than 10 million product offers from more than 700 merchants, including more than 13 of the top 40 U.S. retailers.